Container



May 19, 1964 D. SEIDLER 3,133,662

, CQNTAINER FileciDec. 13,1961 2Sheets-Sheet2 F MG. 3

INVENTOR. DAVID SEIDLER ATTO R N EYS United States Patent 3,133,662CONTAINER David Seitller, Forest Hills, N.Y., assignor tothesebrough-Ponds, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York FiledDec. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 159,059 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-42 This inventionrelates to a container, and more particularly, to a container having anovel configuration which may be easily and inexpensively fabricated,and conveniently manipulated during processing and use.

Present day merchandising practice emphasizes the display and selling ofgoods and materials in attractive packages and containers. Frequently,however, the criteria for aesthetic appeal do not adequately satisfy theeconomic requirements imposed by fabrication techniques, packagingprocesses, the merchandising display racks or shelves, or storagefacilities of the ultimate consumer. This is especially so with respectto containers for medicinal and cosmetic preparations whose sales, onthe one hand, are frequently enhanced by attractive containers ofvarying size and configuration, but which, on the other hand, must bedisplayed and sold from a limited space, and stored in a restrictedspace as a medicine cabinet.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a container havingan attractive'appearance, and which may be inexpensively manufactured,conveniently and easily handled during placement of material into thecontainer, displayed at the point of sale, and manipulated during use bythe consumer.

It is another object of this invention to provide a con tainer having agenerally elliptical circumferential configuration, and havingsubstantially flat, non-curved surfaces, whereby the container may beconveniently handled during processing operations, neatly stored onshelves in contact with other similar or dissimilar containers.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a container having acover portion which may be easily removed from the body portion thereof,while at the same time capable of forming a susbtantially fluid tightseal with the body portion when the cover is in place.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a compactcontainer which may be stacked with other similar containers, one on topof another. 7

Other objects, features and advantages will become obvious to thoseskilled in the art from the detailed description of an illustrativeembodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 illustrates the overall configuration of the container with thecover in place;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the body portion of the container, in section,taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1 through the major elliptical axis of thecontainer;

FIGURE 3 is a view of the body portion of the container, in section,taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 through the minor elliptical axis ofthe container;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the body portion of the container;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view, in section, of the cover of thecontainer illustrated in FIGURE 1, taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 1through the major elliptical axis of the container;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view, in section, of a portion ofthe cover, shown in FIGURE 5, to illustrate the cover sealing means; and

FIGURE 7 is a view illustrating the base of one container according tothis invention in superimposed, stacked relation with the cover of asimilar container.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the container iscomprised of a substantially rigid body portion having a generallyelliptical circumference, and a cover portion having a smooth,substantially elliptical circumference. The body portion is providedwith a plurality of flat, non-curved surfaces. The cover portion isprovided with a raised surface adapted to nest within the base of thebody portion of a lower container, when containers, according to thisinvention, are placed in stacked relation with each other. The containermay be readily fabricated, in whole or in part, of any of the well-knownmoldable plastic materials, such as polyethylene, polypropylene,polystyrene. The container is especially designed for storing semisolid,and solid, medicinal and cosmetic preparations, but is, obviously, notlimited thereto.

Referring to the drawings, and, more particularly, to FIGURE 1, thecontainer, shown generally at 10, has a cover portion 12, and a bodyportion 14. Container 10 is, circumferentially, generally elliptical,with curved and planar surfaces alternately, and preferablysymmetrically, spaced about the circumference.

As shown in FIGURES l and 2, the container portion has a verticalupstanding lower section 16 formed by the flat surfaces 18 and curvedsurfaces 20, and an upwardly and outwardly flared upper section,designated generally as 22, formed by the flat surfaces 24 and curvedsurface 26. The lower wall section 16 extends upwardly and is of uniformthickness. The upper flared section, which begins at 11, a pointslightly above the vertical midpoint of the circumferential wall,increases in thickness as the flared section extends upwardly toward theopen end of the body portion except for the fiat surfaces 24, and is ofa greater thickness at all points than the lower section. The transitionfrom the lower section to the upper flared section is preferably smooth,such that at line 11, there is no sharp break even where the flatsurfaces 18 merge with the flared section.

The thickened flared upper section of the wall serves to enhance theappearance of the container, and to strengthen the container for bettersupporting vertical loads such as those imposed by stacking thecontainers,

more fully described below. It should be understood that the flared,thickened section extends continuously and.

ing smoothly into the upper flared section 22, as well as.

7 :into the adjacent curved surfaces 20 of the lower body portion 16.

The flat or planar surfaces 24 are also generally rectangular in shapeand are located in the upper flared section 22. Surfaces 24 extenddownwardly from a shoulder 36 to a point above 11, and merge smoothlyinto curved surface 26, at the vertical and lower, horizontal, legs ofthe rectangle. Referring to FIGURE 4, it will be seen that, in thepreferred embodiment, the flat surfaces are arranged symmetrically aboutthe circumference of the body portion. Here, particularly, the flatsurfaces are arranged symmetrically with respect to the points where themajor and minor elliptical axes terminate at the exteriorcircumferential surface of the body portion.

The upper end of the flared section 22 terminates in shoulder 36defining a neck 28 of the cotnainer body. The wall thickness of thecontainer at the neck 28 may be selected such that the shoulder 36 is ofsufiicient width to adequately accommodate the mating cover 12 and forma smooth surface at the joint.

Body 14 is provided with a concave base 38 which may be integrallymolded with the wall of the body. A shoulder 32 is formed inwardly ofthe outer surface of the wall near the point where base 38 joins thewall. Extending downwardly from shoulder 32 is support means 34. Supportmeans 34 may be a continuous bead conforming generally to thecircumferential configuration of the body 14, or may include spacedapart legs arranged along a path conforming generally to thecircumferential configuration of the body.

The cover 12 (see FIGURES and 6) is formed with a top planar surface 40,and is provided with a skirt 44. The top surface 40 slopes downwardly atits ends, as at 43, forming a shelf 42. Consequently, top planar surface40 is spaced above the plane in which shelf 42 lies. Skirt 44 has asmooth, substantially elliptical c rcumference corresponding to thecurved surface 26 of the flared upper sections 22 of the body. Theinternal surface 46 of skirt 44 is also preferably elliptical, conformsto the external surface of the neck 28, and is dimensioned such that theinner surface 46 cooperates with neck 28 to provide a fluid tight seal.The thickness of the skirt is preferably dimensioned to conform toshoulder 36 for providing a smooth joint between the cover 12 and body14. It may be readily seen that when the cover is in place, theelliptical contour of the cover will conform to, and correspond with,the curved surface 26 of the upper flared section 22, to present a neatand attractive appearance.

Within the cover 12 and extending downwardly from shelf 42 is acontinuous bead 4S. Bead 48 is spaced from the internal surface 46 ofthe skirt 44, with the spacing conforming to the wall thickness of neck28. When the cover is placed over the body 14, the upper end of neck 28will fit snugly in space 513, with the inner surface as of the skirt 44and the outer surface 52 of head 4-8 snugly fitting on either side ofthe neck 28, serving to locate the cover properly on the neck 28 of thecontainer body, and insuring a fluid tight seal.

The cooperating structure of the base of body 14 and the cover surfacesduring stacking of containers according to this invention is illustratedin FIGURE 7. The top surface 40,, is that of a cover 12,,, for example,of the lowermost container in a stack. Top 40,, nests within the concaveportion formed by base 38,, of body portion 14 of the next succeedingcontainer placed in stacked relation to the lowermost container. Thesupporting means 34,, abuts against the sloping surfaces 43 of cover46,, and rests upon shelf 42,. Consequently, the containers may befirmly stacked, one above the other, and will resist dislodgement.

The fiat surfaces formed at the end of the major and minor axes serveutilitarian functions in addition to enhancing the appearance of thecontainer. For example, the flat surfaces is readily and easilyaccommodate suitable labels and provide a surface upon which the labelsmay be conveniently attached either by hand or by machine. Flat surfaces24- permit ready removal of the cover by exposing the lower edge ofskirt 44 whereby a thumbnail or tool, such as a coin, may be used tolift the cover from the container.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to aspecific embodiment, the same is not to be construed as in any waylimiting the invention. Reference is, therefore, to be had solely to theappended claims for the purpose of determining the scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. A container of the character described, comprising, in combination: abody having a neck and an open end; a cover for said body; said bodyalso having a base, a continuous wall extending upwardly from said baseand forming at its upper end said neck and said open end; saidcontinuous wall having a generally elliptical external circumference andincluding a lower section and an upper section interposed between saidbase and neck, said upper section being of a greater thickness than saidlower section, and said upper section flaring upwardly and outwardly;said lower section having substantially planar surfaces spacedsymmetrically about the circumference of said lower section and saidupper flared section also having substantially planar surfaces spacedsymmetrically about the circumference of said upper section; and saidcover having a smooth, substantially elliptical, outer circuinference.

2. A container of the character described in claim 1, in which, saidbase of said body is concave and extends inwardly of said body and has acircumferential bead extending downwardly of said body, and said coverhas a raised planar top surface dimensioned to mate with and nest in theconcave base of a like body placed in superimposed stacked relation tothe cover of a like body with the head on the base of the upper bodyencircling the raised top surface of a lower cover and resting on saidlower cover.

3. A container of the character described in claim 1, in which saidlower section has a pair of planar surfaces located in opposed relationto each other, and said upper flared section also has a pair of planarsurfaces located in opposed relation to each other, said pair of planarsurfaces in said upper flared section oriented substantially from saidopposed pair of planar surfaces in said lower section. 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,412,325 Devine Dec. 10, 1946 2,717,728 Gray Sept. 13, 1955 2,727,547Moon Dec. 20, 1955 2,978,142 Novick Apr. 4, 1961 3,032,939 Andersen May8, 1962

1. A CONTAINER OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: ABODY HAVING A NECK AND AN OPEN END; A COVER FOR SAID BODY; SAID BODYALSO HAVING A BASE, A CONTINUOUS WALL EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID BASEAND FORMING AT ITS UPPER END SAID NECK AND SAID OPEN END; SAIDCONTINUOUS WALL HAVING A GENERALLY ELLIPTICAL EXTERNAL CIRCUMFERENCE ANDINCLUDING A LOWER SECTION AND AN UPPER SECTION INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAIDBASE AND NECK, SAID UPPER SECTION BEING OF A GREATER THICKNESS THAN SAIDLOWER SECTION, AND SAID UPPER SECTION FLARING UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY;SAID LOWER SECTION HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR SURFACES SPACEDSYMMETRICALLY ABOUT THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID LOWER SECTION AND SAIDUPPER FLARED SECTION ALSO HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR SURFACES SPACEDSYMMETRICALLY ABOUT THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID UPPER SECTION; AND SAIDCOVER HAVING A SMOOTH, SUBSTANTIALLY ELLIPTICAL, OUTER CIRCUMFERENCE.